Manthatisi, the Regent of the Batlokwa from 1813 to 1824, secured the future of the Batlokwa. She is said to have been a strong leader. This was both in times of peace and during times of war. She reigned during the Lifaqane – a historical period of heightened military conflict and migration.
South Africa is 30 years old this year. In this Month of Women, two matriarchs left the stage after three decades of dedicated service to the post-apartheid nation: Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Dr Naledi Pandor.
These are two iconic women of struggle who have served with distinction in the various portfolios they have headed while in the service of post-apartheid South Africa.
They served on the political stage of a South Africa that experiences a different form of Lifaqane. It also brings to mind Manthatisi, the Regent of the Batlokwa, who had to protect young Crown Prince Sekonyela until he came of age to lead the Likonyela.
A new era is upon us.
The Indlulamithi Scenarios 2035 were released on Friday, August 1. They shed light on the possible three pathways ahead that South Africa is faced with. These include scenarios titled Hadeda Home, Vulture Culture and Weaver Work.
Depending on actions that we as South Africa take today, a gravitation towards any one of these three scenarios is possible.
The course and terrain of struggle is being experienced under the worst-case scenario of a Gwara Gwara nation, as described in the Indlulamithi Scenarios 2030, from 2018 to date. The last report of 2023 showed a deepening Gwara Gwara nation.
How do we pull ourselves out of this in the current milieu, creating an immediate nostalgia for the two Manthatisi’s who have just exited the stage?
While both served in several portfolios, including an overlap at Home Affairs and International Relations, their landmark actions for me are where they performed at their best.
Dlamini-Zuma trail-blazed the battle against smoking, and her counterparts in Cabinet experienced her wrath. Dr Kader Asmal and then President Thabo Mbeki were not spared as she relentlessly led the fight against smoking and upped the fight to full strength against cigarette bosses and marketeers. So successful has been the campaign that even at stadia, the often-rowdy Extra-Strong soccer stands remain relatively smoke free, except for a lone smell of a joint of marijuana.
The no smoking in public campaign that South Africa mounted ended up influencing the world. The health portfolio was extended in her internationalisation of the no-smoking campaign when she became Minister of Foreign Affairs. The formula seemed to work magic when her combination added Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba.
South Africa became the go to place as we punched above our weight. In my area of work – statistics – the path for extending statistical work on the continent and globally was paved with gold and diamonds and I witnessed how our influence reached far and near.
Upon her deployment to the African Union, Statistics South Africa would lead the Africa group in the creation of indicators for Agenda 2063, as well as those for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dlamini-Zuma’s fierce independent thinking directed her to taking courageous positions, often away from the party line. It is that Manthatisi we need and miss at this moment of our greatest need. While she finished her race at a much slower pace, her resilience and wisdom constitute a well from which to drink. Each time we crossed paths, she would discuss the plight of education of the African child and what needed to be done.
Dr Naledi Pandor completed her 30-year race accelerating. As the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation until 2024, this firebrand took an international stand against Israel’s actions in the Palestine-Israeli war.
This after other distinguished service.
In her portfolio when serving as Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Pandor would see through the implementation of the Science and Technology Indicators, which are forming part of the national statistical system raft. At that time, I worked closely with the Department of Science and Technology.
When StatsSA hosted the very first United Nations World Data Forum in January 2017, I had the pleasure of inviting the Director-General of Science and Technology, Dr Phil Mjwara, who put at the global level the Square Kilometre Array and its contribution to the world of knowledge.
A day after the end of my tenure in government as Statistician-General of South Africa, Pandor launched a long coming and winding roadmap that we worked on: The South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (Saprin). I was pleased to deliver a keynote address in May 2024, which was seven years later, at the African Population Cohort Consortium, which is an outgrowth of Saprin.
Perhaps while Pandor had a twang in her rendition, what she will be remembered for is the mastery of boldness and fearlessness in articulating the position of Palestine in the ongoing human disaster in the Middle East. The medicinal venom her tongue unleashed left her twang-hong-hong critics paralysed by the clarity of thought, quality and the piercing truth of her message.
She will forever be remembered by the fact that after her, the world has very few excuses on the human condition that has afflicted Palestine for eight decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine.
In these two matriarchs, South Africa has demonstrated that its current condition of a Gwara Gwara state is terribly undeserved. As the two matriarchs take on a new life, they would be greatly reminded by Madiba, who said: “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way.
“But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”
Dr Pali Lehohla is a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, a Research Associate at Oxford University, a board member of the Institute for Economic Justice at Wits and a distinguished Alumni of the University of Ghana. He is the former Statistician-General of South Africa.
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